OK Guys, who's in for Sunday arvo ride in Melbourne? 3:00pm. Where do we meet?
I'll need somewhere to park my car, and to change, so any suggestions would be good.

Cheers,
Dave

and wear Thylacine jerseys....and maybe shorts, caps, gloves, socks etc.

Yeah.

A few of us are not too far from the beach in the south east, about 15 or 20km from the city, but Hitchy and Ed are in Sunbury, so I dunno

Where are you staying?

I'll be staying somewhere near the CBD, not sure which suburb it is, but I wont be seeing them until after the ride anyway. I have transport, and plenty of time, so I'm really not fussed.

ah well, I'm easy.

Ask the "Sunbury Boys" what they wanna do

Team name? "Tiger's Bike Shop Boys". :p

Yes, and you have to ride a Thylacine. You were > < That close, Climbo.

IT'S THE FULL TEAM SHIZNIT OR IT'S NUTHIN' !!!!!! :D

*cough* On a non related note, fellas, apparently I'm doing some stupid hilly ride up at Olinda Sunday morning, so if I'm not too shagged ( HAHAHAHAHA! ) I might be able to make it along for the afternoon ride. How farken idiotic would that be?

If the shoe fits...

Man, I am on a roll today! :D

no cigar !! :(

Well keep us posted on where and how to acquire the skills and bicycles and gear to do this race. If one is near Sydney I'll have a go but not for a while. :)

on a related note, MTB forks. I take it that FOX is the best since I got out of mine a few years back. I'm thinking about an up front 80mm fork in my future. Any recommendations. I prefer no fussing about type forks, set and forget. I don't have time to fiddle with them all the time, pump air in to them etc (last fork I has was a SID many years ago). I want good plush travel and minimal gadgetry.

I have a nice Manitou on the way, but if you've got $600-800 to burn, Fox is good. Air is the key, especially coming off a road bike. Light weight, superior tunability. What kind of riding will you be doing?

XC rides and races, nothing extreme or huge, just rides around here and maybe a 24 hour race or two. If I get one, it'll be the only one I ever get, I want the best.

I'm coming off a road bike but do ride my MTB once a week now. It's steel :) and heavy anyway.

According to my 2 double oh 5 catalog, Fox Forx start at AU$829. That's for about 4lbs and 5" of travel. Overkill for your needs. For comparison, you can buy a complete Specialized with an aluminium frame, RST fork, Deore 8 speed drivetrain, and mechanical discs for AU$800.

so they don't do XC forks with less than 5" of travel? My bike was built on spec of a 3" travel fork so 3-4" is all I need and want. If you'd seen my bike you wouldn't put anything cheap on it though, it's nice and deserves a good fork, even if it is $1,000.

What else would you recommend, the Manitou? Marzocchi? I've only ever ridden a SID from about 5 years ago.


$1,300 on-line for this one.

"80mm Travel
Specially designed and purpose-built internal and chassis parts make the F80RLT the ultimate XC race fork.
FOX exclusive PSC chassis provides unparalleled steering precision and industry leading torsional rigidity.
Patented, High-flow, open-bath damper with SDC (Shimmed Damping Control) and exclusive 3-Way top-cap adjusters for on-the-fly convenience.
Ultra low-stiction FLOAT Air-Spring System works in unison with the FLOAT's damping circuits to provide the perfect balance between efficiency, control and position-sensitive bottoming resistance.
Infinitely adjustable air-spring with coil negative-spring for the ultimate balance between light-weight and low-stiction.
Proprietary FOX oil-seals with patented scraper-lip technology keep debris out and oil in for long-term durability and stiction fighting lubrication.
On-the-fly lock-out feature let's you choose between efficient climbing and traction control.
Adjustable Blow-Off Threshold allows you to set the compression firmness while in lock-out mode.
Factory-tuned Compression damping.
12-click, externally adjustable, Rebound damping.
Approx Weight: 3.33 lbs."

That's an awfully big wad of money for 80mm of travel. I guess since it's your money, you can get what you want though. At the end of the day, I would not spend that much on a fork. I've used oil/coil forks and had no complaints, but my current Manitou is an air/oil fork. I set the air pressure and forget about it. I don't have any fancy lockout or stable platform, just a nice fork that smooths out the little bumps and soaks up the big ones. Seems like we have different needs. The bike I rode Saturday has a cheap Marzocchi Zokes, which is really just a pogo stick to hang your brakes and wheel on. It's not meant for off road riding, but that hardly slowed me down. I know how much I would have to pay for a decent fork for my own bike, and I don't see the Fox as being 10 times better. You want the best you can get, I want a fork that will do the job. I'm rambling now. What kind of bike do you have, and what drivetrain?

BWAAHAAAAHHHHAAAA......Are you blokes trying to tell me bikes have suspension?.....next you'll be telling me ya can take bikes off road as well!....& it's not even april 1st :D

Hitchy

I just picked out the only 80mm fork that was there and was Fox (not to get just to compare). The others were all just as much $ at the top end of XC forks. Seems 80mm is nothing these days, most forks are 100+. The Skareb ELite seems reasonable in weight and price.

Bike is a hardtail, Salsa 853 steel, XT/XTR drivetrain.

Ok, so you're not putting lipstick on a pig. I did a quick check of reviews for various Manitou forks, and was quite surprised. Everything from glowing praise to utter crap. Here's what I found on the '04 Skareb. I don't generally give too much weight to any one reviewer, but look at the overall score. Guys that claim they broke a fork are probably exceeding the limits of their intended use. Post your question in the MTB thread, but be specific about your application, or those huck weenies will all tell you to get a Marzocchi DJ II.

I just thought I'd let you MOUNTAIN FRIGGIN BIKER DUDES that I had a nice ride on the road today. My 0mm travel forks provided only the tiniest bit of damping, and since I've jacked the pressure up to 125psi it has become a little bit more rad going through the little patches of gravel that accumulate on some corners :D

any interest in the 12hr at Eastern Creek in May?? http://www.endurancecycling.com/race_info.htm

rad?

I have some Judy Rockshox on my Trek 6500 and they are pretty good. Trying to find the proper specs for them online. I guess it is like most things, all companies will have the goods, just depends on how much you want to pay.

Maybe (May is a hectic month family-wise). I reckon a four-man masters team might be the go (you and I alone make 100 of the required 140+ years!) We could try to get climbo and bird-flu-boy interested :)

And a garage would be just about mandatory for battery recharges, showers, and a shady place to rest.

Bird flu boy is back in training.... well ok I rode my bike on Monday, still no vomit is seen as improvement.
Unfortunately I've got the same prob as climbo, working in the city with the commute makes training hard, hard! (come on munchie.. take the bait! :D )

but yup, im up for anything someone else organises ;)

Climbo, Dirtworks 100 has passed me by too...

Climbo,
My Klein runs 2003 Fox Float 100RL's, check out http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/2003_fro...t_121970.shtml for details.
You're welcome to take it for a blast.

My thoughts are they work real well apart from the rebound/control knob turns when I use the lockout/adjuster.

Other than that no complaints and not much in the way of maintenance... or maybe thats just me!